The club boss embroiled in a vicious legal battle with actor Johnny Depp is
thought to have been murdered.

The handsome PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN star co-owns Hollywood nightspot THE
VIPER ROOMS - where actor River Phoenix died in 1993 - with ANTHONY FOX. A
court case between the pair stalled in December 2001 when Fox vanished.

His lawyer JAY STEIN, who suspects his client has been murdered, kidnapped
or committed suicide, says, "There has been no trace of him, no financial or
other activity to say whether he's alive."

Depp is accused by Fox of fiddling the books at the club and pocketing
profits for himself, and Anthony mysteriously disappeared shortly after the
judge suggested the Sleepy Hollow actor might lose his controlling stake in the
venue.